Their dominance in the sport predates their early-September visit to Baton Rouge. Between them, the two seniors have five New England titles, 19 state titles, 15 conference titles and five state records. 

Three of those New England titles came Saturday in the 70th annual New England Championships at Thornton Academy. Harris defended his New England championship in the 800-meter run, crossing the finish line in 1 minute, 52.74 seconds to set a new stadium record. 

“It’s a lot of pressure going up there and people looking at you like, ‘Can you defend it?'” Harris said. “I felt a little bit of pressure going out, but as soon as I finished the race in first it felt like a little bit of stress was taken off my back.” 

Harris said he was a tad disappointed he wasn’t able to set a new meet record, which belongs to Henry Wynne, whose time of 1:49.93 was set in 2013. As a consolation prize, he still holds the state record of 1:51.47, set at last year’s New England meet.

“He’s just determined,” Lewiston coach Paul Soracco said. “He’s just driven. He’s one of the most driven athletes mentally and physically. He wills himself to win. Not too many athletes have that trait to do that. It’s a God-given talent. It really is.” 

Harris led from start to finish, winning by 2.43 seconds over Peter Garmon. 

“The first fifty meters you can kind of tell if someone’s going to take it out or not,” Harris said. “It didn’t seem like anybody was going to so I picked it up a little bit. I felt good throughout so I’m not complaining.” 

A short time later, Harris added another state record to his resume in the 200. He finished the event in fourth, but his time of 21.82 dethroned Justin Vigeant’s eight-year-old state record of 22.22. 

Soracco knows a thing or two about what a good track athlete looks like, despite only being in his first year at the helm at Lewiston and having a mostly football background. He was part of the Reading Memorial High School (Mass.) team that went 29 years without losing a single track meet. So Soracco knows talent, and Harris has it. 

“He’s top of the line,” Soracco said. “He’s a one in a million. He’s a lottery ticket. I was the lucky guy to get him.” 

Hall had the better day. The Lake Region senior won a pair of events, breaking the meet record in both. Her day began with a region title in the long jump with a leap of 20 feet, 11 inches. In the process, she broke her own state record of 20-5 and Catherine Lacy’s meet record of 19-3.5.

Her day was only getting started. She also broke a 20-year-old meet record in the 100 in a time of 11.41. 

“I was thinking this morning that even though this is my senior year and I’ve done this so many times, I still get so nervous but I’m also able to control it in a good way that actually helps my performances,” Hall said. “I’ve learned a lot from the past years but it never gets old.”

She broke her own state record in the 200, finished second in 23.69, which would have been a meet record as well. 

Hall will run in college for Iowa State. Harris will compete at Penn State. 

Also setting school records for the Blue Devils were Adela Kalilwa in the long jump (17-1.25), Osman Doorow in the 3,200 (9:29.85) and the girls’ 4×100 relay team of Kalilwa, Heather Kendall, Isha Kasai and Taylor Chamberlain with a time of 50.35. Doorow finished fifth despite running in the first heat. 

“Last week at state I did horrible, but today I was just trying to finish because this is my last meet (of the year),” Doorow said. “Those guys, I never run with them. I thought they were going to go really fast, but I stayed with them and held onto the lead.” 

Drew Gamage completed his high school career with a third-place finish in the triple jump at 46-1.5. His third-place jump came on his third attempt at his first New England meet. 

Gamage said he’s come a long way in his two years as a triple jumper. He used to watch YouTube videos of triple jumpers to get a better understanding of proper form. 

“The first year — last year — was pretty much learning the basics,” Gamage said. “This year it just took off unbelievably. I didn’t expect to do this at all. YouTube, a lot of help and playing other sports really helped me.” 

Gamage will jump with the University of Southern Maine next year.

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